BYU athletics: Brother and sister Shawn and Heather Olmstead named as men’s and women’s volleyball coaches

BYU women's volleyball head coach Shawn Olmsted celebrates the victory with his team. The Cougars defeated No. 6 seed Florida State 3-1 in the third round of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships held at the Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Wash., on Dec. 12, 2014.

I will certainly miss the day-to-day interactions and relationships I’ve developed with the student-athletes on the women’s volleyball team. I love each one of them and I’m excited to watch their development at BYU. With Heather as the new women’s volleyball coach, I know the program will continue to be successful and represent BYU well.—Shawn Olmstead

PROVO — BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe today announced the appointment of Shawn Olmstead as the new men’s volleyball head coach at BYU. Holmoe also announced that Shawn's sister, Heather Olmstead, will take Shawn’s place as women’s head coach.

Shawn Olmstead takes over from Chris McGown, who served as the coach of the Cougars from 2012-15. Shawn Olmstead guided the women’s program from 2011-14.

Heather joined the BYU women’s volleyball staff as an assistant coach in 2011 and was later promoted to associate head coach in January 2014. Over the past four seasons. the Cougars have gone to four straight Deseret Duel titles, two WCC championships, three trips to the round of 16 at the NCAA Championships, and coached five AVCA All-Americans.

“She has been an integral part of the continued success and development of our nationally recognized women’s program over the past four seasons,” said Holmoe. “Heather is passionate about volleyball and has an incredible desire to help our student-athletes improve. As a former collegiate volleyball player and coach for three different programs over a 13-year period, she understands the profession well and knows what it takes to be successful. We are excited to have her lead our women’s volleyball program.”

Shawn Olmstead had been the women’s volleyball head coach at BYU since 2011. In four seasons he led the Cougars to a combined 103-25 record and three trips to the round of 16 at the NCAA Championships, including a national runner-up finish in 2014.

“He has an incredible love for volleyball and has put together an outstanding resume as both a coach and as a former student-athlete” said Holmoe. “In just four short years, Shawn guided our women’s volleyball program back to national prominence, including a spot in last year’s national championship match. He has been successful at every level, and I’m excited to see him make the transition to coaching our men’s program.”

The BYU women’s volleyball is coming off its most successful season in school history, going 30-5 and advancing to the championship match at the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. In doing so, the Cougars became the first unseeded team in NCAA history to make it to the final match, upsetting No. 11 Arizona, No. 6 Florida State, No. 14 Nebraska and No. 2 Texas along the way.

“I will certainly miss the day-to-day interactions and relationships I’ve developed with the student-athletes on the women’s volleyball team,” Shawn Olmstead said. “I love each one of them and I’m excited to watch their development at BYU. With Heather as the new women’s volleyball coach, I know the program will continue to be successful and represent BYU well.”

Before coming to BYU, Heather Olmstead served as an assistant coach at Utah from 2006-11, where she helped guide the Utes to two NCAA tournament appearances and an overall record of 103-51 over five seasons. Prior to that she was an assistant coach at Utah State from 2003-06. She also coached the Intermountain Volleyball Association High Performance team at the 2006 Global Challenge in Maribor, Slovenia, and served as head coach of the IVA HP Select Team in Florida in July 2010.

“I’m humbled and excited to lead the BYU women’s volleyball program into the future,” Heather Olmstead said. “I would like to thank President Worthen, Vice President Richardson and Tom Holmoe for the confidence they have in me to continue the rich women’s volleyball tradition both academically and athletically at BYU. I’m extremely honored to continue to develop relationships with the wonderful young women on our team. I’m excited to get in the gym and continue preparing for the 2015 season.”